Never Ending Forever
by Rydia Asuka
Summary: AU. Tear meets Yuri after a fateful accident. Months later, they meet again after yet another fateful accident. Only fate can say what will come of it. Characters from Phantasia and Symphonia also included.
1. Fate's Game

**Never-Ending Forever **

_First off, I need to take a moment to say that this is my absolute favourite pairing. XD Yes, Yuri/Tear is a tad...unorthodox, but it is oh-so cute. Also on that note, being that this is a cross-over, this is AU, so there won't be any real spoilers._

_Secondly, this is a very short intro. Just letting people get a feel for an odd pairing. XD _

_Thirdly. This was written for a contest. It is done, I'm just posting it in chunks. _

_Finally..._

_I would like to dedicate this to Ayaji. Aya, you rock, dear. Hardcore. Thank you for always being the Tear to my Yuri. And for always being there to cheer me up, even when you don't necessarily know I'm down. XD_

_I've also got to give credit to Lisa and Shannon for just...being there for me through this whole thing. I don't think this would've gotten finished if not for the two of you. Thanks. _

_I hope you all enjoy. _

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tear or Yuri, both of whom are property of Bandai-Namco, along with all of the other characters mentioned in this story.

* * *

Mystearica Aura Fende, or Tear as she preferred, was never what one would call your 'average woman'. As a fourth-year nursing student at Namcobanda University, she was looking forward to finishing up her program and starting her internship.

Still, a day at NU was never boring.

"Oi, get him over here!"

At her professor's request, she poked her nose out into the hallway to investigate the cries coming from it. At the sight her bright, blue eyes were greeted with, Tear raised one eyebrow. Just outside the nursing room, a man with long, black hair was standing outside the room, motioning on two blonds, who were carrying an unconscious blue-haired man between them, to hurry up.

Looking startled to see her, the dark-haired male's equally dark eyes widened in shock before the look was quickly replaced with one of amusement.

"Erm, so, we've got a bit of a problem here. Mind giving us a hand?"

Blinking the shock out of her system, Tear quickly stuck her head back into the room.

"Professor Sage, there's someone injured out here!"

"Bring him in!" the silver-haired professor immediately called, already motioning for students to clear a space to lay the senseless man.

As her fellow students did that, Tear waved the four men in and instructed the two blonds as to where to place the unconscious man.

"Nice place you got here."

"Excuse me?" Tear asked, turning to the final man in shock.

"Oh, you know, beds, curtains, floor...what else could a guy ask for? Still, I suppose it's a bit bland. White never was my colour."

Was this guy for real? His friend was out cold and being examined by several nursing students, and he was commenting on the _decor_? Taking a moment to stare at him, the brunette decided that it had to be one of those situations were a person was given either looks or brains, but not both. Judging from this man's looks...well, he was probably entitled to be lacking a bit upstairs.

"I suppose the white's good if anyone gets murdered up here, though. You could see the bloodstains pretty easily."

Okay, whoa. Wait. Just what the hell was with this guy? Gritting her teeth, the brunette stiffened her spine and began walking away. No way could she stand prolonged conversation with...this guy.

"Hey, don't you have anything to ask me?"

Turning coolly, Tear sighed. "And what would that be?"

"Well, I should think any good nurse would likely try and figure out just why Chester's unconscious to begin with. Don't you?"

...well, that was annoying. Technically, he was right. It was just hard to want to interrogate a guy like this. Sure, he was pleasing on the eyes, maybe even more so than Tear cared to admit, but that did not give him riveting conversational skills.

"Tear, if you're not going to help us, get some details on what happened!"

Well, the cinched that. Nodding to her professor, Tear sighed and folded her arms.

"Very well, Mister...?"

"Yuri. Just call me Yuri," pausing, he eyes her up and down in a rather unnerving way before smirking, "Miss Melons."

Tear fought to remain cool. It was not like Luke and Patty were not constantly making fun of her chest, too. She could handle this.

"You may call me Tear."

"Hm, I guess I could." He paused again, eyes taking on a demonic light. "But I'd really rather not."

Running a hand through her hair, Tear finally nodded. "Very well, Sir Feminine."

Well, it might have been a good comeback had he not broken down laughing.

"Nice, I like a girl with wit."

Inexplicably, Tear found herself blushing. She was about to retort when Raine's yell cut into her thoughts.

"Mystearica! Stop flirting and do what I told you."

Rather than bothering to deny the flirting, even though she absolutely had not been doing anything of the sort, Tear latched onto what remained of her professionalism.

"So what exactly were you doing when, erm, Chester fell unconscious?"

"Me? Oh, y'know, just wandering around the building."

"No, I'm sorry, I do not know. I typically attend class."

"Hm, you don't say..."

"Yuri, stop giving the poor thing a hard time."

Tear glanced up when the two blonds, who easily could have been twins, but for their height differences, joined them.

"Aw, c'mon, Flynn. It's not like Chester's in any danger. He just needs his stomach pumped."

"Stomach pumped?" Tear asked, unable to remain silent any longer.

Subtly edging away from her, the other blond responded, "Yes. You see, Chester and Flynn here are in my culinary class, and were paired up today. I admit my mistake in—"

"—in what? Letting Flynn in your kitchen?"

"Yuri..."

"Everyone knows he can't cook. Well, he can if you stand over him and make sure he doesn't put anything...weird into what he's making, but I hardly think Professor Count has the time for that."

"_Yuri_!"

"Professor Count?" Tear asked, unable to remain silent any longer. "That's Doctor Gardios."

The one called Flynn sighed. "Yuri likes to rename people. He calls you whatever he wants."

"Aw, do I detect a hint of jealousy in your tone, Flynn?"

"No, you don't. Why on earth would I be jealous?"

"Because you don't get a nickname."

"Perhaps you were mistaking jealousy for relief?"

Tear could not help but chuckle a bit at the two's banter. A quick glance at the bed had told her that Chester had been successfully treated, so she was not overly concerned with getting their story. She figured Professor Gardios had to have passed on their story to Raine, so she was not in a hurry to get them talking.

"Aww, did we say something funny, Miss Melons?"

Tear stiffened when she felt Yuri's arm drape itself over her shoulder. Sniffing in disdain, she shoved it off roughly.

"Hardly. Care to continue your elaboration on this apparent attempted murder?"

"Ouch, Flynn. She gotcha there."

The shorter blond's mouth opened and closed several times before he apparently found words to voice his thoughts.

"O-of course I was not trying to kill him! I merely...made a slight miscalculation in my ingredients list..."

"Yeah, slight like 'can you safely put a whole bag of curry into chocolate chip cookies' and 'does squid replace the chocolate okay?', that sort of slight, right?"

"Th-they tasted fine to me!"

"Yeah, because someone burnt your taste buds off as a child."

"No they did not, Yuri. The rest of you merely fail to expand your palates as much as I choose to."

"Yeah, as in: _we're not suicidal_."

Professor Gardios, better known to his students as Guy, waved one hand at the two's banter.

"Ignore them, Tear. They go off like this all of the time. Long story short, Chester dared to try Flynn's food, and passed out from the taste. Now we're here so he can be checked out, but we already told Professor Sage that, so you don't have to worry about it."

"There's nothing else?" Strange that Raine would insist on her pressing them for details if she already knew.

"That's about it, Miss Melons," Yuri said, throwing his arm over her shoulders again. "Flynn got the crazy idea of becoming a chef into his head this summer, joined Doctor Count's class, and viola. Attempted murder with every dish."

"Yuri!"

"What? You should've just stuck to getting your Master's in Business, or whatever you were doing."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"It's true, Flynn. Face it."

Something told Tear the two had had this same conversation many times in the past. Not to mention the things they said to one another. There was a definite bite to their words, yet under that was brotherly fondness. It was almost...cute.

"I think I'll go check on Chester," Guy muttered, making a hasty departure.

"Face what, Yuri? And you really should let that poor girl go. You're bordering on sexual harassment at the moment."

Face darkening, Tear realised that Yuri's arm was still hanging over her shoulders. Shrugging it off roughly, she folded her arms and frowned.

"I'd appreciate it if you would stop doing that."

Shrugging, Yuri sighed. "You two are no fun. You oughta get married, or something. Two stiff necks like you could be boring together for all of eternity."

This brought a series of stutters and blushes from both Tear and Flynn, eliciting a smirk from Yuri. Clearly, the man enjoyed pushing buttons.

"Enough, Yuri. You're not even supposed to be here," Flynn finally muttered, shaking his head.

"Not supposed to be here?" Tear asked, confused.

"Yes. Yuri does not attend NU."

Tear raised one eyebrow. "Then why...?"

"Simple. I knew Flynn was going to be cooking today, so I _had_ to see it."

"...you're terrible," Tear muttered, sighing.

"Or maybe I was rooting for him," Yuri replied smoothly, apparently unphased by her attack. "You never know, it _could_ have been a miracle."

"Flynn, you can go now. Yuri, get out. Some of these students are actually in class," Guy finally muttered, striding over. "Flynn, you can tell Culinary Arts that class if over for the day, and Yuri...just get."

The shorter blond bowed. "Yes, sir. Come on, Yuri."

"Yeah, yeah. Be right there, Captain." Turning to Tear, the dark-haired male smirked. "Guess I gotta be off. See ya later." And with that, Yuri winked, turned, and vanished into the hall.

Tear was not entirely sure why she felt almost...disappointed.

* * *

_Reviews are love, and might just get you more, faster. –heart-_


	2. Tripwire

"You know, Yuri. If you're interested in a girl, the way to get her to reciprocate your feelings is most certainly _not_ to drive her up the wall."

Yuri rolled his eyes. There went Flynn in 'mother hen' mode again. Or perhaps 'serious nag' suited it better. Whichever it was, he did not care. It was annoying, and that was what mattered.

"Lay off, Flynn. At least I didn't send someone to the emergency room today."

"...may I point out that neither did I, Yuri?"

"Nursing wing. Close enough," he retorted, rolling his onyx eyes.

"Hardly. Although I will have to apologise to Chester for that. It was hardly my intent to make him ill."

"Yeah, and you're going to have to beg for a new partner."

At that, the blond blushed. "Y-Yuri...I..."

"Should go back to working on your Master's in _Business_?"

Flynn sighed. "Perhaps. You might be right."

Yuri felt somewhat accomplished at that. Anything that saved both the stomachs of the innocent citizens and Flynn's dignity was a good thing.

"You know I am."

"Yes. Just like _you_ know _I'm_ right about your interest in Miss Tear."

Yuri sighed. The man had tenacity enough to put a cockroach to shame.

"Yeah, so? She obviously hated me. It's not like it's a big deal, anyway," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure I'll survive."

"Oh Yuri, you just don't get it." Yeah, and Flynn of all people did? _Right_. "But we can talk about this later. I need to head back to my class, and you should head home."

Yuri waved one hand idly. "Sure, sure." Well, Repede could probably stand to be let out. The dog was smart, but that did not mean he could get out of a locked house. "I'll talk to you later, then."

"Sure. See you, Yuri!"

Flipping one hand up in a lazy wave, the dark-haired man turned and headed for the building's exit. Not normally being one to let anything get to him, Yuri tried to brush off the day's events, including his...eventful meeting with Tear. Doing so was harder than it should have been, though, as the gorgeous brunette kept creeping into his thoughts.

How stupid. It was not like he was ever going to see her again.

Several months later, he would be in for a surprise.

* * *

Months passed, finals came and went, followed by graduation, and then she was free. Well, as free as a nursing intern could ever be, anyway. Work was hard, the pay not so great, but she was finally doing what she wanted to do: help people.

"Mystearica, might I suggest actually doing some work?"

Snapping out of her daze, Tear felt her face heat up as she immediately bent over her work. "S-sorry, Doctor Balfour." Now, that was not like her at all. It was just that, at times, she found herself thinking about an idiotic young man who had burst into her classroom months before. It was completely inexplicable, ludicrous even, but there it was.

Maybe it was something of his aloof indifference that had caught her attention, or just the way he presented himself, or...

Actually, she had no damn clue. It could be that he was pretty, for all she knew. Whatever it was, it was stupid and she had to drop it. Doctor Balfour was, while not exactly mean, certainly demanding. She needed to do her best at this job. If should could impress Jade Balfour, she could impress anyone. Daydreaming would not help with that.

Still, it was hard, dumb as that was. He kept creeping into her mind at the most unorthodox moments. She hated it. If ever she saw him again, she was going to have to make a point of throwing something at him.

Well, maybe not really. The thought was satisfying, though, and it was not like she would really ever see him again.

At least that was what she thought.

* * *

Yuri's year passed quickly. His job as a security guard kept him busy during the nights, with sleeping and bugging Flynn occupying his days. While the pretty brunette nurse-to-be managed to creep into his thoughts from time-to-time, he managed to keep it low profile.

That was not to say that he was not happy to see the coming of summer, though. It meant a more readily available Flynn to be teased. That, and surfing.

"Whoo!" Yuri yelled as he banked hard on a particularly strong wave. "Race ya to shore, Flynn!"

"You're on!" his best friend called back from his own surfboard.

The race was going well, at least for Flynn, anyway, when the unthinkable happened.

"Oi, what was that?" Yuri muttered as he felt a solid thump against his board. Yuri was not stupid. Calling off the race in his own mind, the dark-haired man collapsed onto his board, carefully keeping all of his limbs out of the water. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but he would really rather not take that chance.

His measures did not stop a second, harder thump from hitting his board, but it did allow him to stay upright. At the third bump, he was not so lucky. His left leg slipped from the board and struck the shark firmly on the side. The creature's barbed scales scraped his foot. Not badly, but enough to draw blood. He tried pulling his foot back on hurriedly, yet he had been thrown off balance too badly to do so before the creature struck.

With an agonised cry, he felt the rows of teeth sink into his calf. Every instinct in his body told him to pull away, yet his brain told him to do anything but.

"Yuri? **Yuri**!"

The sound of Flynn's horrified shouts reached Yuri's ears, yet he did not feel up to responding. Right now, he was focused more on trying to stop the shark's assault on his leg before it severed a major artery.

Instead, he was wrenched into the water fully.

"_**Yuri**_!"

As the creature shook him about, Yuri slowly felt himself blacking out, so he was only dimly aware of Flynn appearing at his side and hitting the shark firmly on its snout to drive it off. Luckily for both of them, the chondrichthyan decided there was easier prey to be had than something it had been uncertain of to begin with. It turned fin and fled into the watery depths.

Then Yuri blacked out.

* * *

Jade slammed the phone down onto its holster.

"Mystearica, I need a bed prepared. Prepare bandages and antiseptic as well. We have a shark attack victim coming in, probable serious blood loss."

Nodding, Tear hurriedly set about her work, making up the bed and setting out everything Jade might need to patch the person up. Antibiotics, needles, threads, gauze, and wraps. Hopefully she had not missed anything. She would have gotten blood, but due to the high degree of spoilage blood suffered at room temperature, that was going to have to wait. She did not even know the blood type, anyway.

When the patient was finally brought in, she paled slightly. It was _Yuri_. How had he...? No, now was not the time for that. While he did not appear to be seriously wounded anywhere else, there was a chuck of his leg hanging off. And the blood. Oh gosh, it was...

"Mystearica!" Jade snapped, bringing her back to her senses. "There is punctuation of the posterior tibial artery. Go and get me a bag of type O negative. Now!"

Nodding, Tear bolted from the room. She could not let personal feelings get in the way of her job.

"Tear, are you alright?"

Halting, the brunette turned to spot her questioner.

"Oh! Doctor Adenade! I'm running an errand for Doctor Balfour."

"Well, you'd best be on, then. It sounds important."

Bowing, Tear turned and hurried on.

When she returned to the room, Jade already had the man's leg cleaned and bandaged. Hurriedly, she hooked up the heavy bag.

"Is he going to be okay, Doctor?"

"Oh, I should think so. It's only a little nibble."

A little nibble? Certainly Jade was brilliant, but occasionally she doubted his sanity.

"Now, if you would keep an eye on our man, I think I'll go file some paperwork.

Paperwork? After _that_? How did he do it?

Seating herself on a chair, Tear prepared herself for a long, quiet wait, so she was somewhat startled when the door opened behind Jade. Glancing up, she saw Yuri's friend enter with a bit of a sheepish smile.

"Sorry to bother you, but the doctor said it was okay for me to see him, now."

"Oh. Yes. Certainly. You're...Flynn, right? If you don't mind my asking, what on earth happened?"

The blond shrugged. "I'm not really sure myself. We were out surfing when I heard him scream. That's when I saw the shark, so I did the only thing any reasonable person would do. I booted it over to him, hit the thing a few times on the snout, grabbed him, and hurried to shore." Sighing, Flynn passed a hand through his vibrant locks. "Then I called the hospital and rushed him over here. I'm...just glad I made it in time. They tell me he could've lost his leg..."

"Well, yes, that is true," Tear told him, cupping one of her elbows and resting her chin on her palm. "But Doctor Balfour is one of the best. Your friend is in good hands."

"Yuri."

"Hm?"

"His name...it's Yuri."

"Well, um...yes, I suppose it is at that," Tear replied, frowning.

"I think he'd like it if you'd use it."

Now Tear was really confused. Just what on earth...?

"I can't say for certain, but I think he's been thinking about you, since that day at NU. I think he...might possibly be attracted to you. He never said anything to me, but I like to think I've known him long enough to know that much about him."

"E-excuse me?" Tear asked, her face heating up at his words. "You must be joking. We only met for a few minutes, and I'd hardly say he liked me in the slightest..." He had done nothing but pick on her! Certainly not grounds for _any_ sort of friendship, never mind _relationship_!

"What, because of the nickname? That's just Yuri's thing. He nicknames people based on first impressions."

The unspoken statement was there. To get a nickname like 'Miss Melons', she had to have made _quite_ the first impression...

"Yes, well. It is not the most appealing of habits."

"True, but that's just Yuri."

"Still, we barely spoke for ten minutes. I hardly call that any basis for-" dare she say it "-attraction."

"While I do not disagree with you, Miss Tear, I also will not deny that there has to be some...initial basis for such feelings, also."

Okay, this conversation had just taken a turn for the really weird, really fast. Here she was, talking about things like relationships with someone she barely knew...about someone she barely knew.

"I would rather drop this, now."

"My apologies, Miss Tear. Please, forget I said anything."

Yeah, and a lot of good that was going to do.

* * *

When Yuri awoke sometime during the night, he was aware of two things: one, his leg really freaking hurt and two, he had no idea where he was.

Sitting up slowly, he hissed softly in pain as the motion jarred his leg.

"Oh, you're awake!"

Yuri's head snapped up, tilting to look in the direction the vaguely familiar voice had come from. His eyes could only catch a blurry silhouette in the darkness, however, as the figure moved to stand over him. A moment later, he felt one hand against his chest, pushing him back down.

"Don't try and move. You need to rest."

"I'm fine," he choked out, fighting the pressure. Much to his chagrin, however, he found himself unable to. Sinking back onto the pillows, he sighed. "I'm _fine_. Really."

"You lost a lot of blood. Just rest."

Damn, but she was stubborn.

"Yeah, well, you put it back in me, right? I think I can handle sitting up."

"And I think I'll take it out again if you don't take it easy. After all the work we went though saving your life, I'd rather you not undo it."

Yuri could not help himself, he laughed.

"You really have an attitude, don't you?"

"I suppose you could put it that way. I prefer to say I do my job."

That was when Yuri recalled where he had heard that voice before. He had known he knew it, but only at that moment did he remember where from.

"I suppose you're entitled to do that, Miss Melons."

"Oh? Well thank you. Good to know I have your permission," she responded flatly.

"Hey now, no need to bite. We can save that for later." He winked to accompany his words, yet he doubted she saw it in the dim lighting. The pause that followed his words said that either she was displeased with his joke, or she just did not get it. He was betting on the latter.

A moment later, he felt her fluffing up his pillows.

"Right now, you need to get your rest. We can catch up in the morning."

"Aw, but I've missed you so much. I'd rather catch up now."

"You're insufferable," she said with a tired sigh.

"Y'know, Flynn always says the same thing."

At that, she paused for a moment before speaking again. "Does he? Well, would you listen to him if he told you to go back to sleep?"

Yuri had to admit that sleep was pretty tempting, yet staying up and teasing his nurse was equally so. Sure, his leg was throbbing, yet it was for that very reason that he even doubted he _could_ sleep. That, and the chance to talk to Tear again was somewhat...tempting.

"No."

"Hm. I must ask; do you listen to anyone?" She was clearly frustrated by this point, yet Yuri did not really care. He was amused.

Fiddling about, his nimble fingers finally found the switch to the light over his bed. Hitting it, he blinked several times as his dark eyes adjusted to the brightness.

"Nope, can't say I do." Well, maybe his boss. Sometimes.

"You need to rest," the brunette told him again, reaching over to hit the light switch.

Smoothly, Yuri reached up and caught her hand as he replied, "That can wait." Holding her firmly for a moment, he finally released her when she gave her trapped appendage a firm yank.

"Fine," she finally conceded with a long sigh. "Clearly you're too boneheaded to see sense."

He laughed. "Nah, I prefer to think that sense is relative." That bought him a raised eyebrow from the brunette. "Maybe I do need to rest, but I figure sleeping half the afternoon right through until..." Pausing, he glanced at the clock, "Four twenty-seven in the morning is a decent amount of sleep. Don't you?"

She sniffed. "You've been awake for awhile, now."

"I'd hardly call five minutes awhile. Besides, if one of us needs to sleep, shouldn't it be you? Have you been up all night with me?" Actually, he realised. Maybe he was being a bit selfish. If he went back to sleep, she could probably get some rest.

"I was asleep in the chair. Your movement woke me up."

Oh. Well that answered that.

"Hm, well then, I suppose I could sleep...but I'd really rather talk to you." With that, he sent her a wink she _could_ see.

"Are you thirsty?"

"Huh?" he asked, somewhat surprised by the unexpected question.

"Do you want a drink?" she persisted stubbornly.

"Uh...sure?"

"Then I'll go get you one." And with that, she was gone.

Yuri sighed as he settled back. At least this gave him a moment to think. He knew what had happened, of course, he had been conscious when the shark had latched onto his leg, yet after that everything was a blank. He must have passed out. Flynn, all high and noble embodiment of perfection that he was, had probably saved his sorry ass. After that, he supposed he had been dragged here and patched up.

It was interesting, meeting Tear again like this. While he could not say he had forgotten her in the past few months, he most certainly had _tried_ to. It was weird for him be interested in anyone, let alone a woman he had met only once. Then again, maybe that was what she had had working in her favour. Maybe the fact that she had been unable to really get under his skin was what made her so interesting. And the fact that she was somewhat interesting, while remaining an enigma to him, or some crap like that.

Whatever, it could not be that important. He would go with the flow for now. See where it took him. He was in way too much pain to think this over now, anyway. Besides, thinking had never really been his strongest asset. He preferred to act on his gut, and his gut was telling him to...act as he saw fit and see where it got him. Much more his style.

Just as he was starting to think that Tear had been gone for quite awhile, the brunette reappeared in the doorway, glass of water firmly in hand. Accepting the cool glass from her, he could not deny that he was actually quite thirsty. Downing most of its contents in one go, the dark-haired man looked up and met her blue eyes with a calm smirk.

"You drugged it? Really?" He should have seen it coming, honestly. "Nice tactic."

"Glad you think so. Now, go to sleep."

And so he did. He did not really having any other choice, after all.


	3. Arbor Vitae

_Ffff, sorry. Totally forgot to update this. D: Only I can fail that well. XD; _

_One more chapter after this. I'll try to remember to update faster this time. XD_

_Comments are always welcome!  
_

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* * *

  
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The following morning when he awoke, feeling muddled and groggy, Tear was gone, replaced by some person he had never seen before. When he asked after her, he was told that she had gone home for the day, having already worked long overtime the day before. Yuri had to admit that he was a bit...flattered that she would do so just to keep an eye on him. Even if it was just her job.

Later that day, Flynn dropped by with a few of their friends.

"Smart one, Sexy. Wish I had your talent at getting eaten."

Yuri grinned a bit at Zelos' nickname for him. "Yeah right, Pinky. You're just jealous that I'm getting the hot nurses looking after me."

"Ouch. You got me there."

"You two are hopeless," Flynn muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Aw, is Blondie jealous?"

"No, he is not, Zelos."

Yuri laughed at his friends' antics. "You sure there, Flynn?"

"Quite, thank you, Yuri."

"Um, Zelos, why would you want a hot nurse?"

"Aw, Hun," the redhead muttered, walking over and slinging and arm over the innocent brunet's shoulders, "We're just having some fun. You know you're the only one for me."

"Zelos, stop teasing Lloyd."

"Aw, Blondie. You're taking all the fun out of it. Besides, who says I'm only teasing?"

"Z-Zelos?"

At that moment, their banter was broken up by the arrival of Doctor Jade Balfour, who quickly shooed the young men from the room.

"Don't die of loneliness without us, Sexy!"

"I'll try not to, Pinky!"

"Now, Mister Lowell, how do you feel today?" Jade asked, clearly intent on ignoring the friends' banter.

"Like I could run a marathon," he replied with a grin.

"Yes, well, if you try it, do not come crying to me when you die."

Yuri laughed. "Alright, Doctor Mambo. If I win I'm not sharing the prize money with you either, though."

"I'll make it some how.

"Now, how about we take a look at that leg?"

Sitting back on his pillows, Yuri let the snide doctor throw back his blankets to inspect his injured limb. When the bandages had been removed, Yuri got his first good look at the injury. What he saw made his eyebrows rise into his forehead.

Whistling softly, he muttered, "Wow, guess it really took a hunk outta me."

"Yes, indeed. In the future, might I suggest not offering to be the main course in a gnathostome's lunch?"

"Hey, I hardly offered," Yuri replied, rolling his eyes. "I think it was more that it decided I looked like a good appetiser."

The doctor sniffed, shaking his head. "Shark attacks are always human provoked. That creature only went after you because of some fault of your own."

The dark-haired young man snorted. "Whatever you say, Doctor Mambo."

The honey-haired man adjusted his glasses. "The fact that you survived tells me at least have some knowledge of the behaviour of sharks. Clearly not enough, however. You did manage to provoke it."

Yuri snorted. "Fine. You win. I asked that shark to try and eat my leg. I get off on being dinner."

Jade laughed at that. "Next time you decide to 'get off' then, kindly do it away from my hospital."

Yuri was not entirely sure whether he liked his doctor or not. The man had wit to put even Yuri himself to shame, certainly, yet he was also a jerk. Still, glancing down at his leg it was hard not to also note that the man had saved his leg, if not his life.

His leg really was a sight. The injury had been so bad that it could not even be stitched up, so the flesh was tentatively held together with dried blood and some fancy concoction or another that Jade had to have put on him. Still, he was told that with the right physiotherapy it would not affect his mobility much. He might limp a bit, or so Jade had said, but he would be able to get around fine.

The next day, Yuri was released from the hospital. Much to his disappointment, he did not get to see Tear again. Still, he was more than happy to get out of the confining room.

"So, now who gets to watch over your sorry ass, Yuri? You can't live alone like this," Flynn muttered as he wheeled his friend out of the hospital.

"Oh, I'm staying with you."

The blond snorted. "Says who?"

"Says your noble and good self, Master Scifo."

"I don't recall agreeing to this."

Yuri rolled his eyes. They both knew that had been Flynn's way of offering to help Yuri out for a bit, so why the hell was he arguing? Unless...

"Hahah, did you have a date with Cat's Eyes?"

"She has a name, Yuri!" the blond objected, blushing.

"Yeah, but mine suits her better. So, I'm guessing you want me out of the house that night, hm? Alright, I can do that." He highly doubted he was going to need much 'looking after', anyway. He had crutches for once he felt better, and he figured he would be on them by tomorrow.

No. He meant to be.

"I...would appreciate it. You two hardly get along."

Waving one hand lightly, Yuri chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. She hates me, you can say it."

"Yuri, I hardly thi—"

"—Flynn, remember that time the cops showed up at the orphanage when we were kids?"

"Yes. You cannot be insinuating that Sodia had something to do with that! Yuri, we were barely twelve!"

"Remember those murders that were committed that summer?"

"Yes...Yuri, what are you saying?"

"Cat's Eyes called the cops and told 'em that I was the culprit. I guess since I sorta looked the suspect, she actually thought I'd done it. Talk about having confidence in a guy." When his friend did not respond immediately, Yuri sighed. "You mean you honestly didn't know?"

"I...find it difficult to believe that she would do such a thing."

"Whatever, Flynn." Yuri sighed. If he was denying that, then there really was no point in going further into the girl's reasons for hating Yuri himself. The blond would probably be all dumb and not get it, anyway. For a smart guy, Flynn was a naïve idiot.

"A-anyway, Yuri. We should be heading home."

"Well, you're the one with the handles to this thing, aren't you?"

"Uh, r-right." And with that, the two set off.

* * *

Tear had two days off, after her long night at the hospital. She intended to use them well. It was not often she was given multiple days off in a row, so she thought it best to make use of that time and do things that needed doing.

At least, that was her plan. It seemed her friends had other things in mind, however.

"Hey, Tear, let's go."

"Uh, where are we going, Noelle?"

"Shopping. Now that you have some money to spend, we need to work a bit on your wardrobe."

"Yes, Tear. That is quite right. Your clothing is terribly out of style."

The brunette sighed. "Honestly, Natalia. It can't be that bad."

"I agree with you, Tear. They're dragging me along on this stupid mission, though. So if I have to go, you're coming too," muttered the third member of the party, a well-endowed young woman with hair as dark as Yuri's.

Wait. _Yuri's_? Why on earth would she be comparing Sheena to _Yuri_? Not only had she known Sheena far longer, but...but...

"Hey, Tear. You in there?"

"Yes. Sorry, Sheena."

"It's not like you be spacing out like that, you feeling okay?"

"Come, let us be off," urged Natalia

"I'm fine, Sheena," Tear assured her as they walked.

"Whatever you say."

"It's just...this guy."

"Wait, a _guy_?"

"Tear, you never told me this!" Natalia exclaimed, clearly shocked.

"H-huh?"

"Yeah, Tear. You can't go around keeping secrets like that," Noelle told her with a wink. "We can't allow that."

Glancing between her three friends, Tear paled slightly.

"Well, Tear? Details!"

Glancing to her one friend that was not pestering her, Tear sent her a pleading look.

"Oh no, Tear. I'm curious, too," Sheena told her, smirking a bit.

"There's nothing _to_ tell. Idiot got himself attacked by a shark, and we had to take care of him."

"It's not like you to be so malicious, Tear."

The brunette wanted to groan at Natalia's comment.

"I'm sorry; it's just that he's an insufferable fool."

Sheena raised one eyebrow. "That you like, right? I mean, I'm not sure I've ever heard you quite that passionate since...ever."

"Hardly. He's just...I don't know how someone can get attacked like that and then joke about it. He can't be right in the head," she muttered, sighing.

"Or you're just interested," Noelle teased gently. "Was he hot?"

"Yes, I suppose he was." Understatement of the century. "But that's not the problem. It's just, I meet him a few months ago in school, and ever since then, he's been on my mind. I must confess that that is not like me. It's so...irrational. Then he comes walking back into my life, and once again he's gotten himself stuck in my head." She sighed wistfully. It was so...annoying. "Yet all I want to do is throw something at him."

"Sure sounds like you're interested in him, Tear."

"Yes, Tear. I must agree with Noelle on this. You do seem a bit smitten with him."

Tear was horrified. How was it that her own closest friends were betraying her so thoroughly? She had spent the last few months convincing herself that was not the case, and here they were, effectively unravelling it all.

"Guys, leaver her alone."

Thank goodness for Sheena. Her guardian angel.

"If she wants to be in denial, then who are we to deny her that?"

...so much for that.

"Oh, look, there's the mall!" she said, pointing. Hopefully she would be able to distract them.

No such luck, of course. She was going to be in for one long afternoon.

The following days passed in a blur for the brunet. Her friends continued to try and weasel details of Yuri out of her, to which she stubbornly kept her mouth closed. It was not like she could answer most of their questions, anyway. Because no, she did _not_ know what his favourite colour was. Honestly.

Eventually, they laid off, accepting that Tear was intent on, once again, forgetting about him.

Until he showed up at the hospital one day. She knew he had been in several times since the accident to have his injury cleaned, but she had never been the nurse on staff at the time. Now, however, here he was, on his own two feet and looking none the worse for wear. Certainly he was limping rather badly, but he was walking unsupported. That had to be good.

"Hey, Miss Melons!"

Flushing at his nickname for her, the young intern looked up to meet his dark eyes calmly. "Yes?"

"Long time no see. I never did get to thank you for drugging me that night."

She blinked. Of all the things to say, why...?

"I merely did that for your own good," she finally relied, still unsure where their conversation was supposed to be going.

"Hey, wasn't I thanking you?"

It had not sounded very 'thankful'.

"Of course. Now, did you need something? I have work to be doing."

He laughed at that. "Nope, not really. Just thought I'd say hi."

"Well, hello. Now, I really must be on my way."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Two days later, he was back. Then again two days after then. When he returned again three days after that, she finally got up the nerve to ask him why he kept hanging around the hospital.

His answer left her kicking herself. Obviously. Physiotherapy after an injury like that was a natural step. Why she had not thought about it astounded her. Or maybe it did not. In all honesty, she had, more-or-less, tried to avoid thinking of it. Had she done so, she would have ended up imagining stupid things. This was a much better, much more..._real_ answer. It was good.

Several weeks passed with him coming in three days a week for physiotherapy. It became something of a tradition for them to talk for a bit after his class, while Tear was on her coffee break. She was relieved her friends seemed to have forgotten about him, or else she might have actually been able to answer some of their questions. She would never have been able to live that down.

One day, however, the unexpected happened. She was just clocking out for her break when he strode up to her, as per usual. Meeting his cocky grin with a small smile, she could not help but notice how smoothly he was moving, at least compared to before. He would never walk perfectly again, but one could hardly complain about getting off with such a small price after such an attack.

Walking over to him, she was surprised to note that, for just an instant, it looked like he was nervous. Then it was gone again, buried beneath a mask of total confidence. She had probably just imagined it, anyway.

Their visit started off as it usually did. Light banter, idle conversation, small talk, nothing serious. About midway through her break, however, Yuri surprised her.

"Hey, Tear."

"Hm?" she asked, wondering idly when exactly it had been that he had started using her name. Awhile back, anyway. Her real name was common on his lips, now. No more demeaning nicknames. Thank gosh.

"Flynn and I were planning to go out with Cat's Eyes tomorrow night." Cat's Eyes? Right. Flynn's girlfriend. Wait. Why on earth would he be mentioning that...? "Did you wanna come?"

Oh. For a split second, Tear froze. At face value, it seemed like a harmless enough question, yet a moment's more thought led her to one conclusion: _he was asking her out_. He was asking her out, and there was no way to deny that her heart leapt a bit at the idea.

She also could not deny the way she hastened to say yes, or how her heart pounded in her throat at the way he grinned when she agreed.

Yes, she was falling for him, hook, line, and sinker, a fact that she could hardly hide from her friends.

When asked if she would be joining them for their weekly girls' night out, they were naturally curious as to why she would be bailing on them.

And understandably livid when she told them why.

"Tear! You cannot honestly be saying that you and he have been going out all this time without telling any of us!" Natalia exclaimed with a frown.

"No, we have not. This is his first time...asking me out. It was only a friendly thing before now." Oh gosh, but that was awkward to say.

"Yeah, but Tear...you did like him the whole time, right? I mean, it's really not nice to hide things like that from your friends," the blonde pilot lectured.

And so it went, back and forth, with only Sheena remaining silent. Something told Tear that while the other two were somewhat offended, Sheena was actually mad. She did not really blame the dark-haired girl. They had been best friends since childhood. She had owed Sheena an explanation since day one.

After awhile of Natalia and Noelle arguing over what Tear was going to wear, the brunette left them to it to sit by her friend.

"You mad at me, Sheena?"

"How can you tell?" came the flat response, eliciting a sigh from Tear.

"Sheena...please try and understand that I-I honestly never thought it would come to this. Really. I didn't want you guys getting all worked up over it if it was just a friendly thing. I figured if I got to know him, and we became friends for awhile, I could introduce you guys later, when it was...safe to do so."

"Even me, Tear?"

"What if I promise to let you meet him first?" Tear finally replied in a lowered tone.

"You better mean that." She was clearly not happy, but Tear also knew she was forgiven.

"And you'd better mean to have me as Maid of Honour."

Well, that was awkward.


	4. Tomorrow

Yuri was well and truly excited. It had been Flynn who had pushed him to invite her out with them, but he was certainly not regretting agreeing to do so. He had been noticeably falling for the pretty brunette for awhile, and Flynn had finally given him an excuse to ask her out. Because no way was he going anywhere with just Flynn and his banshee.

Yuri could not deny that he had been a bit nervous about the whole thing, to begin with, but now that actually asking her out was done and over with, he was looking forward to the evening.

All those months of bloody physiotherapy were finally paying off, in more ways than one. Flynn would agree. Yuri _had_ been single for quite awhile. It was not that he was never asked out, far from it in fact, but it was more than no women ever interested him. The sorts that _had_ asked him out had all been the weaker-minded, shallow type, who were more interested in being arm-candy to a hot guy than actually...being. It sickened him.

But Tear, Tear was different. Sure, she was damn hot, yet she had never used that to her advantage. In fact, the girl was so down-to-earth at times that he had almost feared she lived under a rock.

He was about to learn differently, anyway.

When he picked her up that night, he could not help but stare. He had known she was pretty, but seeing her dressed up was something else. Staying true to herself, she was dressed in a neutral brown that still managed to accent her features perfectly.

When they met up with Flynn and Sodia, Yuri grinned at the evil woman cockily. Clearly, she had not been expecting this. Well, that was fine by him.

Somehow, the night passed without any fighting between him and the banshee. It was a first, but Yuri was just not interested in conflict with Tear there. He had wanted this date to go well.

It did.

Very well.

"Thank you, Yuri...I had a really nice evening."

Yuri loved it when Tear blushed, and right now she was doing a splendid job of it.

"So, you'd be willing to go out with me again, then?" The way she smiled at that had his heart leaping.

"I think I could be talked into it."

"Hm, if that's the case, think I could talk you into coming over for a bit?" The redness that brought to her face brought a smirk to his lips. "Don't worry. I won't ask you to do anything...indecent. I was thinking more like...a movie, or something."

"Well, it is quite late."

"Yeah, I know," he replied, shrugging. "But we're both off tomorrow, aren't we?"

He had her with that, so the two headed back to his apartment.

When Yuri opened the door, they were greeted by Repede, Yuri's oversized, blue-and-white dog.

"Oh! So this is Repede. Yuri's told me a lot about you," Tear told the creature, bending down to let him sniff her hand. With a snort, the dog turned and sauntered away.

"Uh, yeah. He does that. He'll warm up to you in time," Yuri muttered, scratching his head. Honestly, Repede was one for bad first impressions all right.

"So, this is your apartment?" she asked, straightening to look around. "It's cleaner than I expected."

He knew she was just teasing him. With a laugh, he replied, "Well, yeah. Flynn helped me clean all day yesterday."

"H-he knew you were going to have me over?" she demanded, face reddening again.

Yuri snorted. "We're adults, aren't we?" Pausing, he let out a soft sigh. "But like I said, I'm not going to ask you for anything you're not comfortable with."

The subject was dropped at that.

While Yuri got them something to drink, Tear browsed the rack of movies. When he returned with two steaming glasses, one of coffee and one tea, she held out her choice. Quirking an eyebrow, he grinned a bit.

"_Journey of a Star_? Not a bad one." Popping the movie in, they settled down to watch. At first, Yuri paid attention to the film, yet gradually his attention wavered to the woman next to him. It was cute how into the movie she was. When they got to the part where the group was exploring a ghost ship, however, things got really interesting.

At first, the brunette held her own, clearly fighting down any scared reactions. However, when the bars slammed down from the ceiling, she squeaked a bit and latched onto him. Grinning, he wrapped one arm around her.

"Not a fan of ghosts I take it?"

"D-don't be ridiculous. I just...thought it was going to hit him! I don't...like gore?" The last part hit him as more a question than anything else. The movie's rating hardly allowed for gore. He did not press the matter, though. Teasing her might be fun, but he did not want to risk ruining the evening.

It did not matter, anyway. By the time the movie was over, she was sound asleep on his shoulder. Smiling to himself, he flicked the television off and tossed a blanket over them both before settling down himself.

He just did not have the heart to wake her.

* * *

Just over a year later, they were out on date number...well, Tear had long lost count. Unusual for Yuri, he was taking her to a rather nice restaurant. Well, she was not complaining. She had certainly fallen in love with the man's wilder side, having long since figured out that he was not an idiot, just carefree and..._free_.

"So, what's with the change of mood?" she finally asked over dinner, curiosity getting the better of her.

"What, and a guy's not allowed to treat his woman to a nice meal now and again?" he teased, grinning.

"You? No."

"Ouch, guess you pegged me there."

At that, Tear watched curiosity as this man, one she knew to be utterly fearless and indestructible, hesitate.

"Yuri?"

She honestly did not know what to think when he got up, took her hand, and knelt before her.

Heart pounding in her throat, she held her breath as removed a small, velvety box from his pocket.

"Mystearica Aura Fende...will you marry me?"

There was nothing else to do but throw her arms around his neck, voice coming out in choked gasps.

"Yes...yes, of course." Never in her life had Tear been quite so happy. Truth be told, she had been dreaming of this moment four quite some time, but having it actually be...real? Talk about overwhelming.

"I-I love you, Yuri," she breathed, looking up into his onyx eyes.

Gently, he stroked her face with one hand, after placing the shimmering ruby on her finger. "And I you, Tear. More than anything." Leaning up, he pressed his lips firmly onto hers.

She had never been happier. Really.

* * *

Eleven years later, she smiled as she watched Yuri and a now very-old Repede racing their nine-year-old son across the beach. The scar on his leg was plainly visible, and though it disfigured him and left him with a permanent limp, she could not help but love it.

It had led her to the only man for her.

* * *

_Lame ending? Yep! Hope you enjoyed anyhow, though. :3 _

_Thanks to all who reviewed. Hope that maybe I'll hear from you again in the future!_


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